HMCS Winnipeg

There have been 2 vessels named Winnipeg in the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Winnipeg (1st of name) (J337 / 177) / Algerine-class minesweeper

Commissioned at Port Arthur, now Thunder Bay, Ontario, on July 29, 1943, Winnipeg arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in mid-September and after working up at Pictou, Nova Scotia, was assigned to Escort Group W-7 of Western Escort Force. That December, she was transferred to Escort Group W-6, acting as Senior Officer’s ship from February to April 1944. Winnipeg then joined Escort Group W-5, again as Senior Officer’s ship, and served with that group until it was disbanded in June 1945. After conducting convoy and other shipping escorts in the western North Atlantic for 2 years, she was placed in reserve at Sydney, Nova Scotia in August 1945, but was reactivated for passage to Esquimalt, British Columbia, where she arrived on December 21. She was paid off into reserve there on January 11, 1946, but in 1956 she was brought around to the East Coast, and on August 7, 1959 entered service with the Belgian Navy as A.F. Dufour. She was broken up in 1966.

HMCS Winnipeg (2nd of name) (338) / Halifax-class frigate

Though she was assembled at Saint John, New Brunswick, Winnipeg’s engine room modules were constructed at Georgetown, Prince Edward Island, and transported by barge for incorporation into her hull. She was floated up on December 5, 1993, and delivered to the Navy on October 11, 1994. Winnipeg left Halifax on January 16, 1995, for Esquimalt, where she was commissioned on June 23, 1995, and assigned to Maritime Operations Group 2 that October. In 1996, she took part in an international exercise (RIMPAC 96) off Hawaii. On April 1, 1997, she replaced her sister-ship HMCS Fredericton in the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) Standing Naval Force Atlantic fleet, with which she served four months. A highlight of 1998 was her participation in Exercise UNITAS off South America, and in 2000, she was part of a task force involved in PACEX 2000, an Asia Pacific exercise in which Canada seeks to foster naval interoperability, showcase Canadian technology and Canadian industry, train and show the flag. Early in March 2001, Winnipeg departed Esquimalt to join an American Carrier Battle Group for a six-month stint enforcing United Nations sanctions against Iraq.

In September 2002, she again sailed to the Arabian Gulf as part of the Canadian Naval Task Group deployed on Operation APOLLO, Canada's military contribution to the international campaign against terrorism. In 2005, she participated in Operation ALTAIR, returning again to the Arabian Gulf region. Winnipeg continues to conduct operations in support of Canada’s domestic and international policies.

Battle honours

• Atlantic 1943-1945
• Arabian Sea